Playing Safe
by crimsonjica
Summary: “This story is really epic, you know?” the girl said, smiling. -My Amicus Valentine Kringle Entry-


**MY AMICUS VALENTINE KRINGLE ENTRY**

**"Playing Safe"**

**Dedicated to my dear friend: ****florencenightingale/Jaz**

**Jaz: I'm so sorry for the delay. A lot of unexpected things came my way. By the way, I am, yet again, sorry if I did not meet your expectations... I'm not really good at AU. This is actually my first AU.:|.. but I am still hoping that even in a superultramicroscopic way you'll like this.:)**

**To ALL: I don't know exactly what brought you to this page.. but thank you for visiting.. it is up to you if you want to read and/or review this.:) oh.. and yeah, I hope you guys will understand how the story goes..hehe.. but just in case, the **_italic_** is the narrator's part.. while the **straight** is the story written by the writer in this story.:).. and some are meant to be written that way to give emphasis.:)**

**oh yeah... if you're Filipino and an avid fan of Gakuen Alice.. you should check out this website http://amicus(dot)lefora(dot)com :).. come on, I know you want to check it out!.. so go on later alright? after reading/reviewing this story or maybe you can just go already and sign up.:) :) :).. I'll see you there.. yes, YOU..Y-O-U.. I'll see YOU there at Amicus.:)**

**OK! now on with the story..**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice**

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_Their project for their Lit112 is to write the best story they could come up with, whether it was based on a true-to-life story or purely fiction, it didn't matter as long as the story would comprise of one to three chapters and all written in English._

_A seventeen year old girl looked blankly on her monitor…she didn't how to start, she was not really fond of reading and she barely knows any good story. She stood up from her chair and walked back and forth across her bedroom…several minutes have passed yet nothing came into her mind. She then decided to scan her surroundings, hoping an idea would pop in, and as she was doing so, she came across a picture sitting on top of her side table drawer. And just like a switched turned on, she recalled this ever so familiar story._

'_man, how could I be so stupid?' she thought, typing with excitement the story she knew by heart._

_And this was what she wrote:_

******-----**  


**Playing Safe**

"I swear…I'll never fall in love again." a 16-year old boy said, running his fingers through his blue hair…a habit he does when he is pissed. He was seated at the far end of the 5pm bus and a pink-haired girl about his age was seated beside him. Apparently, the boy was talking about a date-gone-bad and the girl was listening to him.

She laughed at his previous remark.

"What? Why are you laughing? Can't you be a little more sympathetic? I got dumped you know." he said to her with seriousness.

"hahaha. I'm sorry…it's just that…hahaha…this is so not you!...it doesn't suit you really…hahaha..since when did you learn to say things like that?!" she said laughing. You see, the boy was a happy-go-lucky guy and he always seemed to be a not-a-care in the world person. He never shows his soft side unless he can't take it anymore…and if there's one person he can open up to, it's this girl sitting beside him.

He just looked at her.

"okay…okay…I had my fun…" she said, wiping the tears she had from laughing.

"you'll find someone better Tsubasa…trust me…" she then said, punching him lightly on the arm and giving him a smile.

"yeah right Misaki…" was his reply. He then rested his head on her shoulder.

"wake me up when we get there…" Tsubasa said.

"and where exactly are we going?" she asked him.

"Home." he said plainly, closing his eyes.

"hey…wait a minute…who told you, you can sle-" Misaki was about to complain but when she saw tears fell from his eyes, she stopped talking.

'was it really that bad?' she thought.

It hurt her to see him like this― getting hurt and then end up crying on her shoulder…literally. She just couldn't stand seeing him looking so vulnerable; however she hides her own pain since she knew better to stay strong for him.

She was his best friend and vice versa (although both would not admit it directly) ever since, so it was natural to be there for him. But they're not the typical type of best friends. In fact, at one look, one may say that they totally dislike each other…since, well, Misaki would not usually hesitate to give Tsubasa a punch or two if he did something stupid, and then he'd complain why she hit him and she rebuts that he did something stupid, then a little debate goes on and he, sadly, always looses to her in their debates so Tsubasa, being the prankster that he is, would pull a prank or two on Misaki as a way of revenge, making the latter annoyed and then starts another brawl and on goes the cycle. But behind this petty quarrels and clashes, they actually care for each other…they just have a unique way of expressing it.

Misaki then glances at Tsubasa.

'I get hurt every time I see you get hurt you baka..' she thought, touching strands of his hair.

Oh, and yes, Misaki Harada is secretly in love with Tsubasa Andou.

However, being the stubborn person that she is, it wasn't easy for her to admit to herself, first and foremost, that she was in love with him, but later on, she finally did since the whole I'm-not-in-love-with-Tsubasa statement that she used to say to herself made her go _nuts, _not to mention, she became an insomniac for quite a while…but of course, those days are over now. But the day she completely embraced that fact, she promised two things to herself― first, Tsubasa Andou, her best friend and the guy she's in love with, would be the last person on earth to know about her feelings for him…and this was because of one reason: **their friendship**. She didn't want to risk their friendship, she didn't want to change the way things were between them and she knew if she'll confess, whether, he rejects her or not there _will be_ changes…things will never be the same again. Second, when she sees that he finally finds his _Ms. Right _and he's really happy with her, she'll forget all her feelings for him, in other words, she'll let him go.

Just then, Tsubasa's phone began to ring…

'_So I said what's the problem baby…' _goes his ringtone.

'hah…this baka's favorite song huh? Still didn't change it…' she thought, trying to wake him up but he won't budge. She then decided to search his pockets for his phone, and when she finally found it, she flipped it open only to see:

"Kaori Mitsuyano calling…"

She frowned at the sight of the name.

Ah yes, this was the girl Tsubasa has been talking about lately; and every time he does, she'd put on a mask…a mask to hide the pain. Sure, she'd tease him about having this love interest and all that, but deep inside, every tease she herself makes, hurts her. It's not that she was plastic, a pretender or something; she just didn't want him to know that she gets hurt, she wanted to act natural; she wanted to show him that it had no effect on her. If she showed signs that she was jealous or hurt, he would wonder why and the most likely thing to happen next is that she would confess her feelings for him ― and that would be breaking her first promise to herself.

Suddenly, it dawned upon her that this may be the very same girl who dumped him today.

'tsk. She has some nerve of calling him…' she thought, tempted to answer the call and badmouth the girl on the other line. She was about to press the_ answer button _when, as if on cue, Tsubasa started to wake up.

"(yawn) What's that (yawn) noise?" he asked her with sleepy eyes.

"your phone is ringing baka…" she then replied, handing him his phone, slightly pissed.

"oh…right…" he replied, accepting the call.

She just looked away as he chit chat with the girl on the next line; she didn't want to listen to their conversation…it would only break her heart slowly.

"ohh…sure!…I'll meet up with you…just tell me where…" she heard him say rather enthusiastically and with excitement.

"Alright, I'll see you then…take care." was his last statement before he hanged the phone.

'a little while back he was crying and now he's grinning…geez, talk about mood swings…' she thought, looking at the now _normal_ Tsubasa Andou. They were approaching the next bus stop when he told her that he has to go to an important meeting and that, since they were just neighbors, to inform his parents that he'll be coming home late just in case she'll meet them on her way home.

"didn't she just dumped you?"

"uh…yeah…but she said she was wrong and she wants to meet up with me!" he replied, smiling.

"oh? Is that so?...alright…go get her tiger!" she cheered on, as he watched him went his way to exit the bus.

He smiled at her then bid her goodbye before finally getting off the bus. And through the glass window, she watched him went his way. And when he was finally out of her sight, she let out a sigh.

'It's better this way I guess, I don't wanna risk our friendship' she thought, closing her eyes and trying to forget the pain she's feeling in her heart.

_**A few hours later…**_

Misaki finally got home and had quickly started accomplishing her homework and other projects for school. Apparently, she's trying to busy herself to prevent her from recalling the earlier incident. And when she finally got everything done, it was now time for a little leisure ― Facebook.

And as she was waiting for the page to load, she heard familiar voices outside their house. So she checked it out through her window but to her dismay, she saw Tsubasa and Kaori having this conversation and, although she couldn't figure out what exactly they were talking about, they seemed very happy.

And there, right at that moment…she realized something…she knew what she had to do and she wanted the world to know what it was. So she went back to her pc and typed in her wall:

'_**is letting go.:('**_

And after posting, she shut down the pc and went off to bed. Her pillow will surely not be dry tonight.

_**Meanwhile…**_

"I'm really happy for you Kaori…" Tsubasa said, hugging her.

"Thank you…I don't know what could've happened if you haven't thought of that plan…you really are the best cousin I have." she replied, accepting the hug.

"Actually, I'm your only cousin Kaori…" he replied, releasing her from the hug.

They both laughed at his statement.

"So? How's it going on with you and Misaki?" she then asked, curious about her cousin's lovelife.

He let out a sigh.

"Well, I don't know…I mean she doesn't know we're cousins so I applied the same tactic we used for you and Jun…but…"

"but? What happened Tsubasa?"

He let out, yet another sigh.

"But she just doesn't show any sign of jealousy…I mean, I've always talked about you these past few months…I've been saying that you're the one for me and all that cheesy stuff…I've even put that eye-mo in my eyes to make that the _I-got-dumped_ story realistic, I also said that I have to meet up with you even though you _dumped _me..." he said with frustration.

"and still she doesn't show that she's jealous?" she asked for confirmation.

"Yeah…I'm losing hope…I just want to say it straight to her face that I've been in love with her for a very long time now. It's not easy to pretend that I love another person but in reality I'm in love with her!!!" he then said, with more frustration than ever.

"no, don't do that! You told me you didn't want to risk your friendship that's why you've come up with this tactic…and then now, you just want to risk it?!" she scolded him.

"I know…I know…it's just that, I'm getting tired of all this façade…" he confessed.

"That's all right…I have a feeling that she'll give in sooner or later…so don't give up…keep holding on Tsubasa!" she said to her cousin, cheering him up.

"Yeah…I will! I will!" he then replied, obviously _recharged _by her cousin's words of encouragement.

Just then, a black Ducati motorcycle parked right beside the two. The driver then took off his helmet and it was followed by a squeal…

"JUN!!!" Kaori said, realizing that it was her boyfriend. She then approached him and gave him a hug.

"woah…easy Kaori…" he said, smiling at her over-excited girlfriend.

"Ah…I see, everything will be alright between you two…" Tsubasa said, smiling.

"Yeah, and it's all thanks to you Tsubasa…if you didn't go pretending to be Kaori's boyfriend…and making me jealous and, you know, me eventually confessing…Kaori and I would never have been together…" was Jun Kozuki's reply.

"hahaha. It was no problem. Hey, I think you two better go now…it's getting late you know?…" he then said.

"Alright Tsubasa if you say so, come on Kaouri…" Jun said, handing his girlfriend his extra helmet.

"Hai!" she replied, riding the motorcycle and wrapping her hands around his body.

"Alright, take care guys…" he then said, as he watched them drove away.

But to be honest, he was kinda jealous of that couple… his only wish is that he and Misaki would have the same kind of relationship as Jun and Kaouri have. And there, at that very moment…he got motivated…he knew what to do. So he quickly got inside the Andou household and upstairs to his room. He then opened his pc and was excited to create a wall post on his favorite social networking site ― Facebook.

And there on his wall he posted:

'_**is holding on.:)'**_

_**TBC…**_

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_The girl then decided to continue it later on, since it was time for lunch and her mom already called her awhile ago so she saved her file and headed downstairs._

"_hMmm…what took you so long sweetie?" her mother asked._

"_oh…sorry mom…I was writing this story for a school project." she said, having a seat on the table._

"_ah, what kind of story?" her father asked with curiosity._

"_ahm…it's just, you know…__**the**__ story…" she replied, winking at them. And automatically, they knew what she meant but decided to play they don't know._

"_ah, does that story involve about to best friends falling in love but playing safe?" her mother said in an I-know-what-you're-talking-about-but-I'll-pretend-I-don't-know manner._

_She laughed._

"_yes, you're right mom…" she replied, putting food on her plate._

"_ah! That story! I remember that the confession was triggered by the girl's wall post on Facebook, oh and speaking of which, that social networking site is still going strong even after so many years, don't you agree?" her father said._

_The seventeen year old nodded in agreement._

"_oh and dear, how exactly did the confession happened again?" her mother asked, playing along._

"_well, if I remember correctly my dear…the boy checked his account that night and saw the wall post of the girl, but the girl was offline so the next day he asked her what happened since he never saw the girl 'act' that way so he was concerned." the girl's father replied._

"_You have a sharp memory…" she said, smiling at her husband._

"_hahaha. Well, that kind of story must never be forgotten dear…." he replied, smiling back._

"_So ahm, dad, what happened next?" the girl then asked, although she already knew what happened, this was just a 'running gag' for them._

"_Oh ahm.. well, the boy confronted the girl but the girl said it was nothing…if I remember correctly. But the boy persisted and because of his persistence, he received a lot of punches and roundhouse kicks from the girl that day…" he said._

_Her mother laughed at this, her father laughed along with his wife and so did the girl._

"_I love that part of the story dad!." the girl said, still laughing._

"_hahaha. But I sure do pity the boy, anyway, so there…he just continued on until the girl couldn't handle it anymore so she finally told him the reason…" her father said further on._

"_You know the girl cried hard that day, after confessing about her true feelings to the boy and telling him that she was letting go but finding it hard to…she ran away from him but the boy quickly caught up with her and hugged her from behind.." her mother then said._

"_Yeah, after hearing what the girl said the boy also confessed that he feels the same way for her. He turned her around so she could face him and then they shared a kiss..." her father continued._

"_It was their first kiss…and it just so happens that it was with their first and, most probably, last love. And from that day on, they became a couple, eventually got married and was blessed with a child…and yes, they also had quarrels like any other couple but their love for each other has always overlooked each other's flaws…" her mother then finally said, ending __**the**__ story._

"_This story is really epic, you know?" the girl said, smiling._

"_Yes." her father and mother replied in unison._

"_Alright, enough with the chitchat…let's eat? Shall we?" her mother then said._

_They finally had their lunch after the storytelling. And after eating, the girl went back to her work, but before doing so she posted something on her wall in Facebook._

_And just in case you're curious on what she posted, well…it simply read:_

_**Tsubaki Andou is writing her parents' love story for her Lit112 project.:D**_

**~THE END~**

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**Author's Note: Well, thank you for reading this far.:) to review or to not review...it's all up to YOU.:)**


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